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Good news, 'X-Men' fans: 'X3' and the first 'Wolverine' movie don’t count anymore

The events of 'X-Men: The Last Stand' (2006) are no longer considered canon. (20th Century Fox)

With the mutant extravaganza “X-Men: Days of Future Past” hitting theatres on May 23, fans of the series will no doubt be spending the next week or so brushing up on previous entries in the X-franchise to prepare. But don’t worry about watching “X-Men: The Last Stand” or “X-Men Origins: Wolverine” -- according to series producer Lauren Schuler Donner, they don’t count.

“Just forget about 'X3' and the first 'Wolverine' - forget about that, too!" Donner said at the U.K. premiere of “Days of Future Past.” He had been asked about confusing continuity like the death of Professor X (Patrick Stewart) and the previous adventures of Logan (Hugh Jackman).

Donnera dded: “['Days of Future Past'] will be putting all that right.”

On top of that, the continuity of the “X-Men” films can get pretty confusing. Full of sequels, prequels, multiple actors playing the same character, and the conflicting visions of many different filmmakers, the X-movies are not quite as unified as comparable superhero franchises like the Marvel Cinematic Universe (“Iron Man,” “Captain America,” “The Avengers,” etc.).

“Days of Future Past,” the seventh film in the X-series, is designed to fix all that confusing canon by dispensing with what didn’t work and keeping what does. The movie brings together the cast of the original “X-Men” trilogy (Hugh Jackman, Halle Berry, Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen, et al.) and the members of “First Class” (James McAvoy, Jennifer Lawrence, Michael Fassbender, and others) for the very first time. Plus, it will right the wrongs of the previous movies (like Charles Xavier’s untimely “X3” death) with a convenient time travel gimmick.

“First Class,” the most recent “X-Men” film, is still very much part of the official canon, though. No matter how you feel about the movie, everything that happened in the 1960s-set film still counts.

That doesn’t mean "First Class" is completely without issues. As the latest “Everything Wrong With…” video from Cinema Sins hilariously demonstrates, the movie has a lot of problems.

For all of its glaring issues, at least "First Class" was still a both a financial and critical hit. (Plus, it didn't kill off beloved characters for no reason!) The film successfully righted a franchise that went way off track with "X3" and "X-Men Origins: Wolverine," a track that "Days of Future Past" hopes to continue. Relegating those two films to the cinematic dustbin was a very smart move on the X-producers' part.